are sulfur aerosols a soluon the faint young sun paradox? · 60km- 40 km— sos 1 cos04 cos fesz...

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Are Sulfur Aerosols a Solu,on The Faint Young Sun Paradox? Megan Smith Penn State/U of Washington BACKGROUND: Previous research by Kas,ng et al. (1989) proves that S 8 , a strong absorber in the near ultraviolet, could have formed an ultraviolet shield in the anoxic atmosphere of the early Earth. It is likely that amorphous sulfur (S 3 ,S 4 ) would have been in the atmosphere , too. Ques%on: Can atmospheric sulfur aerosols warm the surface of the early Earth, and thus solve the faint young Sun paradox?

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Page 1: Are Sulfur Aerosols a Soluon The Faint Young Sun Paradox? · 60km- 40 km— sos 1 coS04 cos Fesz Fig. 1: Sulfur photochemistry on Venus (Prinn and Fegley, 1987)

AreSulfurAerosolsaSolu,onTheFaintYoungSunParadox?MeganSmith

PennState/UofWashington

BACKGROUND:

PreviousresearchbyKas,ngetal.(1989)provesthatS8,astrongabsorberinthenearultraviolet,couldhaveformedanultravioletshieldintheanoxicatmosphereoftheearlyEarth.

Itislikelythatamorphoussulfur(S3,S4)wouldhavebeenintheatmosphere,too.

Ques%on:CanatmosphericsulfuraerosolswarmthesurfaceoftheearlyEarth,andthussolvethefaintyoungSunparadox?

Page 2: Are Sulfur Aerosols a Soluon The Faint Young Sun Paradox? · 60km- 40 km— sos 1 coS04 cos Fesz Fig. 1: Sulfur photochemistry on Venus (Prinn and Fegley, 1987)

METHODSRESULTS

CONCLUSION

Sulfuraerosolsdonotwarmthesurface!Moreresearchshouldbedone.*greenhousegases*par,clesizedistribu,on

Calculatethepar,cleproper,esforbothS8andamorphoussulfur(S3,S4)andtheninserttheminto1‐Dphotochemicalandclimatemodels.